The former legal manager of Rupert Murdoch's News International has been arrested in connection with the phone hacking scandal.

Barrister Tom Crone, 60, was being held at his home on suspicion of intercepting communications, and has been taken for questioning at a police station.

Mr Crone - the legal executive at the now-defunct News of the World tabloid - is the 25th person to be arrested in the investigation.

He gained prominence in the Leveson inquiry when he contradicted the evidence of James Murdoch about exactly when the former executive chairman of News International knew the hacking scandal involved more than one rogue reporter.

In all, more than 70 people have been arrested as investigations continue into phone, and computer hacking, and corrupt payments to officials.

Among them are former editor and prime minister David Cameron's ex-media chief, Andy Coulson, and Rebekah Brooks, who oversaw Rupert Murdoch's British newspaper arm, News International.

Brooks will make a further appearance in court next week over charges relating to phone hacking.

The scandal has not only rocked News Corp, it has put the notoriously aggressive British press under the spotlight and embarrassed senior politicians, including Mr Cameron, over their often cosy ties with the Australian-born businessman.

Mr Crone resigned from his post in July last year at the height of public anger over the hacking revelations.

He subsequently fell out with Rupert Murdoch and James Murdoch, who he accused of giving false information to a parliamentary committee about an email in 2008 which indicated hacking was widespread on the tabloid.

James Murdoch has denied knowing about the full scale of the problem until it became apparent last year and said Mr Crone himself had misled politicians.

At a public inquiry into Britain's newspaper industry ordered by Mr Cameron in the wake of the outcry over phone-hacking, the elder Murdoch blamed a culture of cover-up on Mr Crone, an allegation the lawyer described as a "shameful lie".

The arrest comes as senior judge Justice Brian Leveson prepares to deliver the findings from his 10-month inquiry into press ethics after hearing evidence from hundreds of witnesses, including many who condemned papers' tactics and behaviour.

One newspaper editor says Mr Leveson had sent a letter to major newspaper groups giving them advance warning of possible criticism in his final report, calling it a "damning indictment" of the industry.

"The best way I can describe it is that he's loading a gun, and this document, well over 100 pages, is all the ammunition," Chris Blackhurst, editor of the Independent, told BBC radio, adding he was worried about the inquiry's outcome.

"Believe you me there is plenty of ammunition - you read it and you just gulp."